This is a readlist short works that are sometimes just what the doctor ordered. The list below includes some fiction and some nonfiction, but all the picks are books you can read in a day.
Dostoevsky, White Nights
This one is very hot right now, apparently because of Book Tok. It’s even made an appearance on the Book Club podcast episode with Dominic and Tabby. It’s a story of unrequited love in St. Petersburg and the main character is a man who spends most of his time caught up in his imagination. It’s a fever dream in the best of ways and also a bit heart-breaking.
Dostoevsky, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
This one is not as hot right now as White Nights, but it is also an interesting read. It’s much closer to Notes from the Underground. And if you read this and White Nights and Notes from the Underground, you may see the main characters as something like variations on a theme or as different versions of the same kind of man. In each case, it’s a man who finds that the real world fails to match his imaginary world, the realm he thinks he should be in. But depending on which book, that man responds to the space between what is and what should be with varying levels of spite, from a little to a lot. This ridiculous man leans toward more spite.
Stefan Zweig, Chess
This is closer to a short story than a novella, but you can find it published on its own. It is about chess, to some extent, but it’s also about the human mind, obsession, and what it takes to preserve sanity in the worst of circumstances. If you do not enjoy chess, you may be reluctant to pick it up, but you’d be wrong. It flies.
Denis Johnson, Train Dreams
You saw it on Netflix, is it worth reading? A hundred times yes. It is quieter and more beautiful and more moving on the page. The plot will not be wildly different but the book is more profound than the film. That is not a knock on the film, but a truth about the book.
Denis Johnson, Jesus’ Son
Denis Johnson wrote something quiet and stirring and rural in Train Dreams, but he was just as capable of depicting the world seen in half-light from the perspective of addicts and down-and-outs. This collection of related short stories came out in 1992 and actually also became a film. The film starred Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper, Denis Leary, and more. It was made in 1999, when you could still make off-beat films.
Jerzy Kosinski, Being There
This book is wild. It’s basically about a man who says very little and as a result people project quite a bit onto him and that takes him to some pretty unexpected places. It’s very funny, but it is also actually working through some of Heidegger’s ideas. (?!) On the cover of the edition I have, Time calls it “A tantalizing knuckleball of a book delivered with perfectly times satirical hops and metaphysical flutters.” That may make it sound like it’s work to read, but it really isn’t at all. The book’s narration helps bring out some of the more philosophical ideas (again, in the most low-key way), but you can also get a sense of it all from the 1979 movie starring Peter Sellers.
John McPhee, The Survival of the Bark Canoe
John McPhee excels at portraiture. He captures the image and essence of unusual individuals in his profiles. This book is a great example of that and it’s also legendary among McPhee fans because it demonstrates his skill at finding surprising topics and making them fascinating. On top of that, you will also learn something about the history of bark canoes in America.
Elaine Scarry, On Beauty
This is a brief philosophical exploration of beauty—what it is and what it produces in us. It’s thoughtful and reflective and will hopefully produce thought and reflection in you as a reader. Thankfully, it is usually paired with a beautiful cover.
William Styron, Darkness Visible
This is an autobiographical account of extreme depression. Styron lays bare his experiences and he does it with the talent of a skilled writer. It is very short, but it cuts quite deep.
